Epilogue
by Beckers
Summary: John & Helena say goodbye to Moonbase Alpha ...


**Space: 1999**  
EPILOGUE  
Written by Beckers  
  
(I do not own these characters. I have no connection with the owners of this TV series. This fiction was written for entertainment purposes only. Thank you.)  
  
*****   
  
  
"You look a little troubled, John." Helena smiled at him from across the deserted Command Center. Except for the two of them, no one would have ever known that humans had, at one time, scurried back and forth in this control center. Wars and declarations of peace had been proposed here. Sometimes madness reigned: It would be missed.   
  
The Commander stood next to what used to be Sandra Benes' console. His eyes had been fixed on the main viewing screen as he reviewed, in his mind, what it was he was going to say over the awaiting recording disk, "I'm nervous," he replied. "Victor was always better at saying farewells than I."  
  
Helena nodded. Now you do look sad, she thought.   
  
The recollection of their late great friend always brought about this reaction. John and Victor had been close. They had shred a bond that was, perhaps, even more enduring than what she had developed with the Commander herself. The scientist left them far too early to know what a tremendous impact he had on the moonbase and their lives.   
  
"Don't wait too long, John. The Eagle might leave without you." Helena attempted to lighten the mood and walked a little further into the Command Center.  
  
"Wouldn't that be a fanciful ending?" he whispered with gentle humor, "To be left alone on Alpha after twenty years of fighting for survival with my people." Koenig looked down at the table top, immersed in what seemed a private joke, and smiled, gently shaking his head back and forth.  
  
Doctor Russell, taking a turn at her own jest, pulled out the high backed chair she was standing behind and settled herself into it - behind the Commander's desk. She leaned back against the cushions, as if making herself exquisitely comfortable, and folded slender fingers over her belt buckle, "I've always wanted to do this," she murmured, "but never dared to try while you were in a position of authority on this base." Helena teased and closed her eyes.   
  
It prevented her from seeing the very real look of concern on John Koenig's face.   
  
He turned from the appealing sight of a good humored Helena and looked again at the map of stars before him. To the right he could see planet Aunta, their new home.   
  
"What's the matter, John?" Helena's eyes fluttered open, but she was still leaning back in her relaxed position in his chair. "You know everything has checked out. We have water, food, and the resources to build. The atmosphere is pollution free, we will have an earthly four seasons and, to cap it off, morale has never been higher with our growing community, in spite of the hard work ahead of us."   
  
"I don't know," he sighed, "Maybe it all just seems too easy. Nothing we've ever done has gone without a hitch."   
  
Helena reluctantly stood and crossed to him, "Yes, I know," she said sympathetically. "Maybe it's because we're going to be gearing up for more trouble once we've re-grouped on Aunta and prepare to establish our permanence." She continued at his uncomprehending expression. "Our life on Alpha has ended and it's now time to begin anew." She lifted a hand from his shoulder and pointed at the big screen, "There." Helena dropped her arm and took his hand in hers.  
"Nothing in the universe is perfect and we're going to have to struggle to survive, John. We'll have to tame the land and its wild beasts, as our ancestors did on earth..."  
  
"As we did on Alpha."   
  
"Yes. That's our "hitch", John. We're new to Aunta, and it knows it."   
  
She was right, and John understood what Helena was trying to say as he lifted a hand to touch her pale cheek.   
  
Yet, Helena knew there was more to John's concern and depression than the un-certainty of their move. Moonbase Alpha, a cold and sterile structure, was replaceable as a home. And eventually, when it came right down to it, after twenty years... so was a Commander.   
  
A government would be formed once they got themselves settled on Aunta. It had been discussed in a countless amount of meetings. But where was it written that John Koenig would be a part of it? In retrospect, did he really want to be involved? Weren't twenty years of his life enough to devote to command? Questions such as these were what made a man tired and slightly heavy-hearted.  
  
Gently, Helena reached up and kissed John on a greying temple. "It's time, John. Do what you must," she whispered and backed a little away from her lover, Commander and, at times like these, reluctant patient.  
  
Slowly, with a heavy finality, Koenig pressed a button: "Moonbase Alpha: Final Report. We, originally from Planet Earth, have finished our long voyage. We are going home, and it is called Aunta, a Psychon word meaning 'New Beginning'.   
"For those of you who have listened to these logues -our adventures for the past twenty years - please watch over this moonbase. Show it the respect it deserves. True, it was a prison for most but, as much as we wanted to be free of it, Alpha was still our home ... and we loved her." John paused and glanced at Helena who was smiling encouragement and approval, "Although Aunta looks promising, we who have lived on this base, are still faced with an uncertain future. I leave you with our cooridnates in case you, who are friendly, wish to seek us out on our new planet. You will see if we have failed in our attempts at creating a new, glorious world, one free of the indifference and corruption our home world grew accustomed to." Then thinking again, John sighed and admitted, "Having said that, we were and are good people. When you see this, and visit us, as I sincerely hope you will, I pray we remained strong in our efforts to stay fair and ... innocent."  
  
Helena's eyes met John's. What he said was part of a discussion she and he had when Aunta first appeared to them on their short range probes. When you are not longer fair and innocent you become unjust and offensive.  
  
"Finally, I leave you with these words: We of Earth , then of Alpha, and now of Aunta have completed our journey through outer space. We now begin a new voyage of discovery. We will come to discover our new home-world and ourselves unlike ever before. We will also be waiting for you. Wish us luck. We wish you well. Commander John Koenig ... signing off."  
  
Unhurried, John snapped off the recorder and carefully dislodged the small disk inside. He then,with a punch of despondency, slipped it into a compartment which housed hundreds of other such disks. John, with a strange finality, pushed the door to the compartment closed and turned to look at the sole member of his audience."Okay?" he asked, regaining immediate composure.  
  
She nodded, "More than okay." Helena took a step closer to John and held out her hand. His speech had effected her far more than she was willing to admit. "It's time to leave, Commander. Let's go home."   
  
He took the woman's hand, revelling in the warmth of her fingers next to his skin. After all these years she still managed to warm him. He was glad she was the mother of his children. "Before we leave I want to say it one more time to you, because it will be the last time on Moonbase Alpha ... I love you, Dr. Russell. You know that, don't you?"  
  
At a push of a button, from a comlock they probably never would use down on Aunta, the couple waited for the double exit doors to part.  
  
John waited for her response.  
  
"Yes, I know John. I still love you too." Helena murmured, not looking at him but obviously meaning every word.  
  
She squeezed his fingers with mutual feeling.  
  
They did not look back.   
  
On Aunta the Earth people finally found the peace they so richly deserved.   
  
Yet the moon continued its wanderings. It floated on and on and on ...  
  
  
THE END  
  
  
Written by: Rebecca Eisenhuth October, 1992  
Revisions: January 30, 2002. 


End file.
